Hayate x Blade
I thought I’d outgrown gag manga, or pretty much all the new stuff out there was crap. Luckily, “Hayate x Blade” (read as “Hayate Cross Blade”) restores my faith in the ability of mindless hyperkenetic fluff to entertain. Even more surprising for a Dengeki Comics release, it has no cheapo panty shots or anything even mindly ecchi, which is probably why I’m actually reading it.
Hayate x Blade is pure manga comedy, plain and simple. The premise is girls in a kendo school (very modern kendo school!) fighting under a point system to raise their rankings. Of course, the background isn’t the important thing, the real stealer here is the characters, who are at the same time both typical gag manga, and yet refreshing and innocent somehow. It’s great fun, and I laughed out loud at one point. How long has it been since that has happened?
Three cheers for getting back to the good ol’ basics.
Also trawled Mandarake in Shibuya today. It’s a bit sad to see the former mecca of used otaku goods left behind in this new age of bright, cheery and cheap Book Offs.
